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The Bottom Line: General Fund subsidizes cost to run Champions Course

John Ingle, Times Record News
Published 12:00 a.m. CT Feb. 15, 2016

Torin Halsey/Times Record News Ali Cowan chips onto the number 8 green at the Champions Course at Weeks Park during the final round of the 57th Annual Texas-Oklahoma Junior Golf Tournament Thursday. Cowan placed second, shooting a 4-under par 68 for a four-day total of 283.

TORIN HALSEY/TIMES RECORD NEWS Olney's Tanner Thompson taps a long putt on Hole 10 on the Champions Course at Weeks Park Monday afternoon.

Torin Halsey/Times Record News Dylan Yarbrough blasts out of the sand on 5 as he competes in the Boys OC Tuesday morning at the Champions Course at Weeks Park. The 57th Annual Texas-Oklahoma Junior Golf Tournament continues today and Thursday.

Golf courses — public and private — have struggled for years to make a profit, and The Champions Course at Weeks Park is no different.

In fact, the city has had to subsidize the city-owned course out of the General Fund for several years to make ends meet. Jim Dockery, deputy city manager of Wichita Falls, said it's no different for fiscal year 2015-2016.

City staff has projected the golf course to bring in about $760,000 in revenue this year, a 2.7-percent increase over the previous year's projection. But the cost to run Champions Course is anticipated to be $950,000, almost $200,000 more than its revenue.

Dockery said part of the gap is caused by a restroom improvement project and the purchase of two new mowers. The Golf Course Reserve Fund will contribute $78,000, which was a result of the course's cart fleet being traded in last year. The General Fund will cover the remaining $112,000.

"The whole industry of golf is not a huge, profitable business proposition," he said. "Private sectors are having tough times with golf courses making profits. Public municipalities typically subsidize, to some degree, with tax dollars. But it's important for the community to have a quality golf course as an amenity in your community for the public."

According to city budget records, Champions Course received a subsidy of about $96,000 in fiscal year 2014-2015, $129,000 in 2013-2014 and $42,000 in 2012-2013.

Dockery said 40,000 to 50,000 rounds of golf were played annually in the 1980s and 1990s, but those numbers have dropped. He said the course now averages between 25,000 and 30,000 rounds per year.

Part of the drop off was a result of prices being set too high after the course was renovated in the late 2000s to address flooding issues, he said, further decreasing the annual number of rounds initially after reopening to 18,000 to 20,000. Prices were adjusted over time to be more in line with the market.

The historic drought that ended in 2015 was also a significant player in the drop in the number of golfers teeing off and the revenue stream.

"This year will be a really good indicator of how the course will do in, hopefully, a normal year after renovation with the prices adjusted to where they are today with the ability to water the golf course regularly and keep it in good playing condition," Dockery said. "The last few years, (we've) only been able to keep the greens watered, and it made the ground (fairways) pretty hard and we lost some grass out in the fairways during that time."

Dockery said he would like to get to the point that the golf course is able to break even, but the demand is such that it has made it harder to do so. He said Champions Course did benefit some from Hawk Ridge on Loop 11 and Wind Creek at Sheppard Air Force Base closed — both victims of a saturated golf market at the time — but so has River Creek near Burkburnett.

The subsidy is minimal in the big picture of things, he said, and the city has an obligation as a local government to provide a quality outlet for area residents as well as visitors.

The Bottom Line is a Times Record News-exclusive series where we examine local city, county and school district finances to explain how your money is being collected and spent. This series is published in print Sunday – Thursdays and is available online at timesrecordnews.com/trninvestigates through February 25, 2016.